100 Snowflakes

Summary: Among the thousands of snowflakes dancing in the cold air, will you have the patience to pick out the best 100? Among the thousands of memories, which ones are worth remembering? Done for the dA 100 Themes Challenge. SasuHina

1. Introduction

Hinata stared at the red-eyed teacher apprehensively. Bits of spinach were stuck to her otherwise flawless teeth and a weary look clouded over her once-glamorous face. Hinata looked down on the floor and chewed on her fingernails absentmindedly.

"Class, I'd like to introduce a new classmate, Hinata Hyuuga. Say 'Hello' to her, please."

A whole class of five and six year olds looked up. Hinata kept on staring at her feet.

There was a quiet murmuring of 'hello' and 'hi'. Then they all went back to sucking their thumbs or toppling primitive buildings made of wood blocks. The teacher left the new girl's side, and suddenly she was lost in the turmoil of confusion.

She sat down on a chair and traced the writings on the desk with her fingernail. Something hard hit the back of her head.

She caught a ball of lumpy brown clay in her hands and looked around for the culprit.

No one stepped out or even paid attention to her. She turned back to the desk and rolled the clay on it. It cracked and fell into little hard pebbles, spraying across her lap. After brushing it off, she picked up a piece of crumpled paper, smoothed it on the table and drew a flower on it with a purple crayon.

"That's pretty."

A boy with dark hair and black eyes looked down at her from across the table. His voice was thin and childish. He had a welcoming smile on his face. Hinata felt herself blushing.

"Th-thanks."

"Here." He fumbled around in his pocket and produced a slightly bent plastic rose, as he said boldly, "My mom says that pretty flowers are for pretty girls. I think you're pretty."

She stared at him before hesitantly taking the flower. "Um," she bit her lip as he sat down across from her, "Wh-who are you?"

"Sasuke." He grinned again. "Sasuke Uchiha."